Screenwriting Lecture 2

Screen Writing:

It’s all about authenticity. Plus, the subject that you’re writing about should always be something dear to you and that you believe in strongly. Do not just get some other text and see if you can condense that down into about ten minutes. If it’s not your material, then it’s shit. Another thing, always keep it simple.

Gasman: a short film about a short person. We see everything from the girl’s point of view; the shots are from about waist height, and she’s in every scene. This is as juxtaposition from the previous film that I never got to watch called “Joyride”. This film is a bit like a trailer of a massive violent film. There is essentially no main character and it’s all about violence. It’s the lack of authenticity in this film that makes it shit.

The character in “Gasman” though has two things to her that make her a great and deep character; she has conscious desires and unconscious needs. Her conscious desire is to have exclusive access to her dad and to get rid of his other daughter. Her unconscious need though is to mature as a person and realise that she must get along with the other girl. The climatic scene is where she is about to throw the stone, but she doesn’t. Here, we have exclusive access to her moral maturing as the other characters are facing away. It is thus that we have a very private moment with her as she makes her decisions.

Father and Daughter: This story encompasses about sixty years of a woman’s life. Her conscious desire is to meet up with her dad again on the beach/to find out what’s happened to him. Her unconscious need is to be reunited with him, even through death. It is very sad, as even though she has children and a family of her own, her only relief is when she dies in the boat. When she finds this boat, her hopes and dreams are shattered just like everyone else has dreams that don’t come true. It was almost like she was being unrealistic with this dream, as her emotions had overwhelmed her. It’s strange that in most films, and in this one, people have a set goal, but the way in which they get it is always different. Because she has no face, it makes the feelings universally felt.